1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a table data entering device, and more particularly to a device for supporting the entering of table data in generating sets of titles and element data associated therewith.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Table has been widely used to arrange complicated information into easy-to-understand information and to present such information to readers. In the present age of electronics documentation, the table is still a key part of documents.
The electronics documentation tools, such as DTPs (desk top publishings) and word processors, have tabulating functions without exception. The tabulating method for those tools comes in two varieties; a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) method and a command burying method.
The WYSIWYG method has been used in many DPTs and word processors. In the WYSIWYG method, the frame of a table is displayed on the screen. In forming the table, necessary information is put in the cells of the table. Here, the "frame of a table" consists of columns and rows. The "cell" is a rectangular area defined by the adjacent column lines and row lines. A specific example of this method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei. 3-206552. The tabulating procedure by this method will be described.
Firstly, the outline of a table to be formed is determined. The "outline of a table" means a frame defined by ruled lines in which the absolute positions of the ruled lines and the absolute spaces each between the ruled lines are not yet determined. In determining the outline of the table, an operator examines the relationships among all the titles and data items associated therewith that are to be input to the cells of the table, and designs the title cells and data cells (both referred to as cells) of the table, which have such sizes as to properly receive titles and data items.
Then, the operator forms the frame of the table or the table frame on the basis of the outline of the table through the system. In this case, the operator may take any of the two methods to form the table frame. In the first method, operations such as division, transfer of entries, deletion, and the like are repeatedly applied for the rows and columns of the table frame. In the second method, addition and deletion of ruled lines, change of the length of ruled lines, and the like are repeatedly applied for the table frame.
Finally, the operator inputs row and column titles and data items into the cells of the thus formed table frame.
The command burying method is used in the tabular ambient of LaTeX, and roff. In this method, a table is expressed in the form of the text in which character strings representative of cell contents, control symbols representative of borders between the cells, and commands to depict the ruled lines coexist. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of display of a table described in terms of the LaTeX. A control symbol "&" represents the borders each between the cells in the row. The LaTeX program interprets the control symbol "&" as a command to depict the ruled lines, and draws a vertical line between the cell contents having the symbol "&" located therebetween. A control symbol " " represents the end of the row. A command " hline" and " cline" directs the system to depict horizontal lines. A position of the ruled line may be directed by the operator. If not directed by the operator, the system automatically calculates the position of the ruled line.
When using the command burying method to form a table, the operator first determines the outline of the table. Then, he progressively enters character strings of the cell contents, control symbols, commands in accordance with predetermined rules, using the determined table outline. After the entering of the data is completed, the formatter is booted to form a layout of the table. In this way, the table is formed.
In either tabulating method, the operator applies the procedure to determine the outline of a table and to actually form the table. However, those tabulating methods have the following problems.
The first problem is that it is impossible to edit logically. In the tabulating work, editing operation applicable for the table is deletion and addition based on the rows and columns. Such an editing operation concerns only the layout of the table. The logical editing operation is impossible. An example of the addition of column titles to a table already formed is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. As shown in FIG. 3, child titles "a.sub.1 " and "a.sub.2 " are located under each of parent column titles "A" and "B". To add child titles "a.sub.3 " to the table of FIG. 3, the conventional editing method adds two columns respectively under the column titles "A" and "B" thereby to form a table as shown in FIG. 4. In this case, the operator per se must make an estimation of the formation of additional two columns in order to add the two child titles "a.sub.3 ", and operate the system to add the two columns.
The second problem is that it is difficult to alter the table layout. To alter the contour of the table and the layout defining the relative positions of the cell contents, the operator must form another table anew. This job is time consuming.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a general table. The table consists of title cells and data cells. Data to be input to the data cell is called "element data". In most of the tables contained in the documents, the combinations of titles and element data are described in a corresponding manner. The combination of the titles is called a string of titles. The element data in a data cell where a specific column intersects a specific row, corresponds to the title strings including the row and column title strings in the row and column. Sometimes, a plurality of titles are contained in a single row and a single column. For example, in the table shown in FIG. 5, a title string as the combination of row titles B and F and column titles b and i is (B, F, b, i). This title string corresponds to element data "12".
In connection with the problems of the editing procedure for tabulation, if a set of a title string and corresponding element data is known, the logical editing may be applied to the table data. Various layouts can automatically be formed from the sets of title string and corresponding element data. Accordingly, alteration of the table layout is easy. The following two methods may be used for entering the title/element data sets.
In the first entering method, an operator enters sets of title string and element data associated therewith, or title/element data sets on a keyboard as follows:
title 1, title 2, . . . , title n, element data. One title frequently corresponds to a plurality of items of data. Accordingly, in this method, the same title must be entered many times. The data entering efficiency is poor. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a table for explaining a conventional method of entering table data. Let us consider a case where titles and element data corresponding to or associated with these titles are entered to form the table of FIG. 6. In this case, the operator enters the table data in the following order: PA1 A, C, 1 PA1 A, D, 4 PA1 B, C, 2 PA1 B, D, 3
In this example, the titles A, B, C, and D are each entered two times. Further, the operator must learn the title/element data sets which have been entered. Accordingly, such mistakes as the missing of data to be entered, the entering of the same data repeatedly, and the entering of data different from the data which should be entered, tend to occur in entering the table data.
Another method is a conventional tabulating method in which a table is formed using the WYSIWYG method or the command burying method, and desired title/element data sets are picked up from the formed table. In this method, the details of the layout of the table must be determined in forming a preparatory table before an intentional table is formed. The layout data is not contained in the title/element data sets picked up. Accordingly, it is useless.